Cayuga jury convicts Auburn man in brutal assault of woman

A Cayuga County jury took five hours to convict an Auburn man of assaulting his girlfriend in a at his home in February 2007.

Michael G. Milczakowskyj, 50, of 13 Canoga St., faces up to seven years when he is sentenced June 3. He is being held today in the Cayuga County jail in Sennett. Jurors began deliberations about 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

District Attorney Jon E. Budelmann said he will ask for the maximum sentence.

"This defendant brutally assaulted this victim," Budelmann said in a news release announcing the verdict, "cracking her rib and subjecting her to the risk of serious complications or even death."

The district attorney said the victim, who is from Missouri, met Milczakowskyj when he moved there after his release from Cayuga County jail, where he had served time for a felony DWI conviction.

Budelmann said Milczakowskyj has a history of domestic violence and was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child in 1999 and harassment in 2000. Both of those convictions stemmed from violent attacks on his wife.

He also has two DWI convictions, the district attorney said, noting that Milczakowskyj scored an "astronomical" 0.45 BAC in his first DWI case. By comparision, the state threshold for driving while intoxicated is 0.08.